The ministry of commerce & industry has notified Copyright (Amendment) Rules, 2021. In India, the copyright regime is governed by the Copyright Act, 1957 and the Copyright Rules, 2013. 

The Copyright Rules were last amended in 2016.

Highlights of the amendments:

• The amendments have been introduced with the objective of bringing the existing rules in parity with other relevant legislations, the commerce and industry ministry said.  

• It aims to ensure smooth and flawless compliance in the light of technological advancement in the digital era by adopting electronic means as the primary mode of communication and working in the Copyright Office.  

• A new provision regarding publication of a copyrights journal has been incorporated, thereby eliminating the requirement of publication in the Official Gazette. 

• In order to encourage accountability and transparency, new provisions have been introduced to deal with the undistributed royalty amounts and use of electronic and traceable payment methods during collection and distribution of royalties.  

• The copyright societies will be required to draw up and make public an Annual Transparency Report for each financial year.

• The amendments have harmonised the Copyright Rules with the provisions of Finance Act, 2017 whereby the Copyright Board has been merged with Appellate Board.

• The compliance requirements for registration of software works have been largely reduced, as now the applicant has the liberty to file the first 10 and last 10 pages of source code, or the entire source code if less than 20 pages, with no blocked out or redacted portions.

• The time limit for the central government to respond to an application made before it for registration as a copyright society is extended to 180 days, so that the application can be more comprehensively examined.

Copyright Act, 1957

The Copyright Act, 1957 came into effect from January 1958. It was amended in 1983, 1984, 1992, 1994, 1999 and 2012.

Prior to the Act of 1957, the law of copyrights in the country was governed by the Copyright Act of 1914. This Act was essentially the extension of the British Copyright Act, 1911. Even the Copyright Act, 1957 borrowed extensively from the UK’s Copyright Act of 1956.

Substantial amendments were made to the provisions of the Act in 2012. These amendments had the effect of making the Act compliant with the WIPO Copyright Treaty (WCT) and WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty (WPPT). India acceded to these two treaties in 2018.

Presently, the Act is compliant with most international conventions and treaties in the field of copyrights. India is a member of the Berne Convention of 1886 (as modified at Paris in 1971), the Universal Copyright Convention of 1952 and the Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreement of 1995. Though India is not a member of the Rome Convention of 1961, the Act is fully compliant with the Rome Convention provisions.

Further, the provisions of the Act are also in harmony with two other WIPO treaties namely, the Beijing Audiovisual Performances Treaty, 2012 and the Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works by Visually Impaired or Otherwise Print Disabled Persons, 2013.

Copyright Office

The Copyright Office was established in 1958 under section 9(1) of the Copyright Act, 1957.

It is under the immediate control of a Registrar of Copyrights, who is appointed by the central government. 

The office is situated in New Delhi.

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